TaijiPilgrim
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- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances (2011), Camino Frances (2015), Camino Ingles (2017), Camino Muxia (2017), LePuy(2019)
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I receive emails from the VisitSpain tourist information website, which I believe is the official Spain tourism site for the United States. Tonight I got this notice:
Update: Spain Will Require Booster Shots for Vaccinations Older than 270 Days
Starting February 1st, U.S. travelers visiting Spain must be fully vaccinated and must have received the last required dose of their COVID vaccine no less than 14 days and no more than 270 days prior to arrival in Spain. If more than 270 days have passed since the last required dose, travelers must show proof of having received a booster shot at least 14 days prior to arrival.
Spain accepts those vaccines approved by the World Health Organization, namely: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sinovac, and Sinopharm.
All travelers are required to fill out a health control form prior to departure. The form can be found here: https://www.spth.gob.es/
For the latest information about health travel guidelines and requirements please visit: https://travelsafe.spain.info/en/
Coming from a website of the Spanish government, I have to believe this is accurate information. Feel free to fact check.
If you click on the links in my post, I think you will. But please fact check me as I don’t want to perpetuate false information. There are enough lies in the world already. Btw, I downloaded your app to prepare for a spring Portuguese Camino because it receives excellent reviews.I can not find the information about the booster shot on their website? Where did yuo find it?
The information that you posted (about vaccination requirements in connection with entry into Spain for non-EU nationals and non-EU residents) is correct. I did check.If you click on the links in my post, I think you will. But please fact check me as I don’t want to perpetuate false information. There are enough lies in the world already. Btw, I downloaded your app to prepare for a spring Portuguese Camino because it receives excellent reviews.
The usual. 2 jabs of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca. One jab of Johnson. A certain time period between last (or only) jab and validity of the vaccination certificate. This covers most of us here on the forum. Those who were vaccinated with something else need to look up the conditions that Spain has set (EMA or WHO list etc etc - the same as it has been for months). They call this primovacunación. Dosis de refuerzo means booster jab. Are you planning to travel to Spain very soon?And whilst someone is checking, can they please tell me what they define as fully vaccinated??
The information that you posted (about vaccination requirements in connection with entry into Spain for non-EU nationals and non-EU residents) is correct. I did check.
And as you said, it can be found through the Spanish government's SpTH website but it is not obvious. One has to use the link on the SpTH website that points to national Spanish law and then pick the most recent amendment for one of the Covid-19 related Spanish laws adopted in 2021. This amendment was adopted and published at the end of December 2021.
I am confident that the SpTH app / form will be updated in due course to incorporate this requirement when it will become applicable.
And if I may allow myself to make a personal comment: It makes sense. It is best to travel only when duly vaccinated and boostered, whether that's a legal requirement or not.
If you click on the links in my post, I think you will. But please fact check me as I don’t want to perpetuate false information. There are enough lies in the world already. Btw, I downloaded your app to prepare for a spring Portuguese Camino because it receives excellent reviews.
It says so in part Sexto of the new administrative decree (see post #6 in this thread). Since the requirement will be applicable from 1 February 2022 only, as already stated in the first post of this, this requirement is not yet reflected in the SpTH form and the app and the website.Did you find information about the booster shot being required?
First of all: Welcome to the forum, @jbreuner.I'm hoping to make my first Camino (Frances) in May of this year.
So, if I start my walk at St. Jean and walk into Spain over the Pyrenees, I won't need to fill out the form and get a QR code, correct??? Am I missing something here? Sorry... I'm a "newbie." I'm still trying to figure all this out!!
And whilst someone is checking, can they please tell me what they define as fully vaccinated?? Thanks.
No, the initial shot or series of two shots, depending on the vaccine, (one for J&J/Janssen, two for Moderna, Pfizer and Astra Zeneca) and one booster shot.I believe it is the 2 initial shots plus two boosters.
Kather1na says 2 shots, Lance believes it to be 2 shots and 2 boosters and trecile says 2 shots and 1 booster.No, the initial shot or series of two shots, depending on the vaccine, (one for J&J/Janssen, two for Moderna, Pfizer and Astra Zeneca) and one booster shot.
When did you get your last shot? If it's less than 270 days before you enter Spain you're good to go. If it's more than that you will need a single booster shot, which you must have received more than two weeks before arrival.As someone who will have had 2 shots but no booster by the time I want to go to Spain (too early for it), all is still as clear as mud
Thank you for that clarity Kathar!na.Also, google primovacunacion and dosis de recuerdo. They are precisely defined concepts used in general in Spanish and by the national Spanish Health Department in particular.
For example on the website of the health authorities of one Autonomous Region in Spain: https://www.ibsalut.es › que-es-la-vac...
Primovacunación: es la pauta vacunal necesaria (una dosis o más) para considerar una persona no vacunada antes, inmunizada en un momento determinado.
Which means in English: Fully vaccinated = When a person who had not been vaccinated before has received the necessary doses (one or more) so that the person is regarded as immunised from a specific time onwards.
Truthfully, as a senior and my sister, an octogenarian, we am hoping to get a second booster by the time we fly toward the end of April. We received the booster towards the end of August, and it will be 8 months at that point. Pfizer is saying that a Omicron targeted booster should be available sometime in March of 2022.
Don’t forget to give yourself 2 weeks for the vaccine booster to become effective. Your body needs time to ramp up with the biological information to get the full immune boost (not present at all for the first 72 hours post-shot, and considered fully functional at 2 weeks).
Depends when in the last week... for the 15th to work out for you, you'd have to delay departure to the last day of April. So... I'd try for inside the first or second week of April.We are not leaving till the last week of April. So We are hoping to get it…by 15th?
According to Pfizer,the booster targeting Omicron won’t be available until March. Folks who are getting the 2nd boosters in Europe and Israel, are getting the-p same vaccine as the first booster as I understand it. I would like to get the omicron target booster, when available.Depends when in the last week... for the 15th to work out for you, you'd have to delay departure to the last day of April. So... I'd try for inside the first or second week of April.
I hope you can manage it!!! I know that people are starting to get that next (4th) shot, so if you have the opportunity, then there's nothing but benefit!!
Have you already received a Covid booster? If so, presumably more than 270 days will not have passed before your trip to Spain, correct?According to Pfizer,the booster targeting Omicron won’t be available until March. Folks who are getting the 2nd boosters in Europe and Israel, are getting the-p same vaccine as the first booster as I understand it. I would like to get the omicron target booster, when available.
YES, boostered the end of August. And Yes, you are correct, there is no guarantee that a vax will be available….which is of concern. We would fall within the 270 days and be home before time frame becomes problematic, but I would really want to get a 2nd booster unless Omicron really burns out for this season.Have you already received a Covid booster? If so, presumably more than 270 days will not have passed before your trip to Spain, correct?
But it sounds like you are wanting a 2nd booster before you travel.
I'm don't think that it's a sure thing yet that there will be an Omicron specific booster.
Correct.it will be interesting to see how long the “booster” continues to have validity for entry into Spain. I know there is nothing to suggest that there will be another 270 day window
Booster vaccination is not the solution.but I would really want to get a 2nd booster
If The Covid pandemic has highlighted one thing regarding the distribution of the vaccine…it is not only that “rich” countries need to do “more” ….Booster vaccination is not the solution.
Vaccination the whole world is.
The rich countries must do more to make this possible.
Thank you, good to know.Hello, Everyone. My name is Jim, I'm 69 years old and I'm hoping to make my first Camino (Frances) in May of this year. Naturally, I'm following these posts with great interest, as I will be subject to these requirements when I go. I, too, checked the TravelSafe.spain.info/en/ website (thank you for the link) and concur that the vaccination requirements, and the completion of the Health Control Form, are valid. I also agree with Kathar1na above, who said "it just makes sense." However, did anyone notice that the requirement to fill out the Health Control Form applies only if you arrive in Spain by air or sea? Under its FAQs, the TravelSafe website says:
What happens if you travel by land?
For the moment, you are not required to present a form of any kind. Travelers from risk countries or areas arriving in Spain by land from France must have a vaccination/diagnostic test/recovery certificate.
I am fully vaccinated and I got boosted in October (within the 270 day requirement). That said, I probably will try to get another booster before I go, just to be on the safe side.
So, if I start my walk at St. Jean and walk into Spain over the Pyrenees, I won't need to fill out the form and get a QR code, correct??? Am I missing something here? Sorry... I'm a "newbie." I'm still trying to figure all this out!!
Check this official EU website for requirements to enter each EU country.Thank you, good to know.
After reading your post, a very delayed lightbulb came on and I realized I'm first landing in Lisbon then a connecting flight to Bilbao, then after a few days in the Barcelona area, up to SJPD to turn around and walk back into Spain. I now have almost four entry points (if initial stop in Portugal is considered one)...anyone else experience border hopping like I seem to have created for myself?
When I checked the Visit Spain website (https://travelsafe.spain.info/en/) I found the explanation clear enough - for an original Spanish language directive translated into English. I suspect THAT is the missing element of this dialog.
When I parsed the rules, here is what I read:
1. The last vaccination of your first round (e.g. two shots except for the J&J vaccine) must be not more that 270 days before you show up asking to be let into Spain.
2. If the last shot in that series is more than 270 days old, you must show evidence of a booster (I read it to mean a single booster vaccination).
3. I did not see an inference that one had to have additional booster jabs beyond the third one - second if using the J&J vaccine.
Also, and this is critical, I read that
"You must show a negative COVID-19 test result. NAAT (PCR, LAMP, TMA or equivalent) test types are accepted in Spain. You must show a negative result of a NAAT test taken within 72 hours OR an antigen test taken within 48 hours prior to your arrival."
I did not see that anyone mentioned this in the thread. In this regard, the rules have not changed since I traveled to Spain in early September 2021. I had a PCR test within the 72 hours as prescribed. However, no one ever asked for it. I plan to do it once again on my next trip to Spain, regardless of whether they ask for it or not.
I had my third Moderna shot - the booster - in mid-August 2021. Presently, I am waiting for the medical authorities here to tell me that I need a fourth booster. I am also keen to follow what happens in Spain and the rest of Europe. I will do whatever the Spanish authorities direct.
My next planned trip to Spain, COVID permitting, will be in May / June 2022 to do some sort of Camino. I already put in a request to volunteer at the Pilgrim Office in August - after His Holiness the Pope departs.
Hope this helps the dialog.
Tom
I flew to Spain on Dec 29 on TAP airlines via Lisbon to Malaga. Even though I was only transiting through, Portugal required I meet their current entry rules, which included proof of vaccination (CDC card accepted); Portugal locator form filled out online after checking in for flight; and PCR test completed within 72 hours of flight departure. For Spain, I filled in their online SPTH form which included proof of vaccination (CDC card accepted) within 48 hours of flight departure. Being vaccinated, I was not required to have a recent Covid test, but since I had to have it to transit Portugal, I was covered if asked. Spain's requirements are for air and sea entry, not land entry. Walking the camino from France to Spain over the Pyrenees is a land entry, and I don't recall any border control entry on the Napoleon route pre-covid, just a cattle grate. I think internal domestic flights in Spain probably do not need more requirements like testing, but I would check to be sure. And, of course, requirements keep changing, so keep checking for up to date information right up to the day your travel!!!Thank you, good to know.
After reading your post, a very delayed lightbulb came on and I realized I'm first landing in Lisbon then a connecting flight to Bilbao, then after a few days in the Barcelona area, up to SJPD to turn around and walk back into Spain. I now have almost four entry points (if initial stop in Portugal is considered one)...anyone else experience border hopping like I seem to have created for myself?
I have no problem in wanting to following the rules, but as this thread shows, it is not obvious as to what the rules actually are.Just do it. When you visit someone else’s country, follow the rules.
Excellent share, thank you so much.I flew to Spain on Dec 29 on TAP airlines via Lisbon to Malaga. Even though I was only transiting through, Portugal required I meet their current entry rules which included proof of vaccination (CDC card accepted); Portugal locator form filled out online after checking in for flight; and PCR test completed within 72 hours of flight departure. For Spain, I filled in their online SPTH form which included proof of vaccination (CDC card accepted) within 48 hours of flight departure. Being vaccinated, I was not required to have a recent Covid test, but since I had to have it to transit Portugal, I was covered if asked. Spain's requirements are for air and sea entry, not land entry. Walking the camino from France to Spain over the Pyrenees is a land entry, and I don't recall any border control entry on the Napoleon route pre-civid, just a cattle grate. I think internal domestic flights in Spain probably do not need more requirements like testing, but I would check to be sure. And, of course, requirements keep changing, so Keep checking for up to date information right up to the day your travel!!!
Perfect, thank you!Check this official EU website for requirements to enter each EU country.
Tom, this is, I believe for exceptions of non-vaccinated as I read it. As I recall you had medical issues or Covid before you went? Perhaps this is why you needed or wanted the test then?
As a vaccinated arrival, I was not required to take any tests when I arrived in Spain in 9/2021. I am not aware of changes in testing requirements for vaccinated at this point?
See your quoted section below
2. Travellers who are in any of the exceptional situations and do NOT have a vaccination certificate, must present the diagnostic certificate or the recovery certificate.
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2.1. Diagnostic certificate. You must show a negative COVID-19 test result. NAAT (PCR, LAMP, TMA or equivalent) test types are accepted in Spain. You must show a negative result of a NAAT test taken within 72 hours OR an antigen test taken within 48 hours prior to your arrival.
2.2. Recovery certificate (up to 180 days from the date on which the sample was taken).
This doesn't help the dialogueAlso, and this is critical, I read that "You must show a negative COVID-19 test result. NAAT (PCR, LAMP, TMA or equivalent) test types are accepted in Spain. You must show a negative result of a NAAT test taken within 72 hours OR an antigen test taken within 48 hours prior to your arrival."
I did not see that anyone mentioned this in the thread. In this regard, the rules have not changed since I traveled to Spain in early September 2021.
Last year, I did have a life-threatening but wholly non-COVID related abdominal infection. I got the PCR (nasal-swab) test two days before my travel date to Spain in September 2021 out of an abundance of caution. The results came early on my travel date. Everything fell into place nicely.
This was for two reasons: (1) if the result came back positive I would have cancelled my trip, and (2) Spain could have changed the entry rules in the 48 hours before my plane landed at Madrid. The rules might have even changed while my plane was in the air.
A late rule change would have me scurrying about to find a last-minute test. So, acting out of an abundance of caution I got the free test at a local drive-they pharmacy on a timely basis.
This way, if anyone said: “But, señor, you must also have a negative PCR test result,” I could produce said test result. Better to have it and not need it than need it at the last minute and not have it.
I plan to do this again when I hope to travel to do a Camino in May-June 2022.
I am a belt and braces (suspenders) sort of fellow.
Hope this helps
Tom
Several fellow members of the forum have listed links to all the necessary websites providing requirements for entrance into Spain and other EU countries. I suggest you visit these websites and your countries State department website as your travel date approaches. One thing you can probably count on is that whatever the rules are they are likely to evolve over the next few months and year.I have no problem in wanting to following the rules, but as this thread shows, it is not obvious as to what the rules actually are.
And also, people must not expect that these websites are already updated to rules that will apply several weeks into the future, as it is the case here where the new rules will apply from February 1. It's good to know about this in advance because obviously, if someone needs a booster to comply with the February 1 rule, they need to get it a few days, if not a few weeks, before their departure.I suggest you visit these websites and your countries State department website as your travel date approaches.
I hope that your post won’t make others think that the rules are impenetrable or require high levels of interpretation. Several members of the forum have done a great job giving precise and clear explanation of what is required by the Spanish government to enter Spain.I'm done with this issue.
When indicated, I will follow the rules, as I interpret them - for me.
I wish y'all well - and Buen Camino!
Stay safe out there,
Tom
But corrections and clarifications are good.When I stated that I was done, I meant that I was out of patience for snarky retorts and that i did not desire to debate the issue. The rules are what they are.
I have digital vaccination certificates for my two immunisation jabs and for my booster jab. I also have a few checking/verification apps from a few EU countries on my mobile phone (out of curiosity and for funThe booster information hit the American travel bloggers earlier today. Apparently it is for multiple countries in and around the EU and the news appeared to break specifically today as it is exactly two weeks from the start of the requirement.
This is the French Government website, my interpretation, as a UK citizen is that I will need a PCR to travel to France and start in SJPP.We are deciding between starting in SJPDP or Roncevalles around March 22. We will have been in Spain for about 4 days prior to making our way towards our starting point. My question is do we need to do a COVID-19 test before we go to France for the 1 night? Or is it not necessary if we will only be there for less than 24 hours. I’m a little confused on the entry requirements. Thanks!
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